The Volta: Why Novels Bore Us Before They Captivate Us

In a personal essay for Public Books, critic and academic James D. Reid introduces the concept of the 'volta'—a term borrowed from poetry—to describe the moment in a novel when reading shifts from a chore to a compulsion. Reid argues that most readers experience this turning point, but its timing and trigger vary widely. To illustrate, he enlisted friends to read Graham Greene's 'The End of the Affair' and report when they felt the volta: one at page 20, another around page 75 after a character's disclosure, and Reid himself later when the narrative's collision became clear. He notes that the volta is subjective, unlike the structural volta in a sonnet. Reid connects this phenomenon to concerns about students abandoning novels, suggesting that many young readers don't realize novels are 'supposed' to start slowly and that a volta will eventually arrive. He advocates teaching students about the volta to foster persistence and curiosity. The essay also explores related concepts: 'portals' (forceful openings) and 'twists' (which can trigger voltas too decisively, as in Susan Choi's 'Trust Exercise'). Reid references D. A. Miller's 'The Novel and the Police' on the finite length of novels, and mentions discussions with his PhD advisor and her students about voltas in 'Jane Eyre' and 'Far from the Madding Crowd'. The essay was commissioned by Tara K. Menon.